How do DSP effects on old (well, 90s) hi-fi systems work? I have an old Sony stereo I still use ocassionally so that's why I am wondering. Can things like DBFB and EQ DSP cause digital clipping or it operates outside of the digital domain? I know DSP = digital signal processing, but how come then it works with the cassette player too?

"Digital signal processing" means there is a chip(s) on the circuit board that implements these recalculations in the digital domain. It does not mean the processing is only applied to digital sources. ALL sources are passing through this circuitry then to a DAC (they likely are one in the same) before going to the power amp section. Analog inputs, such as your cassette player, first hit an analog-to-digital converter.

Yes, if sufficient amplification (boost) is applied peaks will exceed digital zero. How much you might hear this is not obvious. It's also possible the circuitry has an "apply effects, but prevent digital clipping" governing rule.

Thanks, it's Sony MHX-NX-3AV. AFAIK those are from cca 1999, so the processing is probably fully digital or am I wrong? And if analog sources get converted to digital first for DSP processing, what is the resolution and the level it is being digitized to?

DSPs were definitely available in the consumer electronics realm in 1999, as they had already been used in home theater receivers for a few years at this point. Usually a Motorola 56000 series chip. In case of my trusty '97 vintage Onkyo, we've got an AKM AK5340B ADC (18-bit sigma-delta), XC56004FJ50 (24-bit word length, IIRC), and NPC SM5875 DACs (16-bit sigma-delta). The ADC side strikes me as OK, the DAC side is somewhat basic in this case.

On a side note, what does the Sony DBFB feature actually do? Does it just boost the bass? Because I seem to hear a "brighter" sound upon turning in on, which could mean that it boosts the highs as well and perhaps attenuates the mids? Can anyone who has knowledge of this please elaborate?

On a side note, what does the Sony DBFB feature actually do? Does it just boost the bass? Because I seem to hear a "brighter" sound upon turning in on, which could mean that it boosts the highs as well and perhaps attenuates the mids? Can anyone who has knowledge of this please elaborate?

According to Sony:The DBFB (Dynamic Bass Feed Back) circuitry reinforce the bass sound at low listening level. The lower the sound level, the more the bass is emphasized.

This seems a compensation to the way we perceive frequencies at low volume.If I interpret correctly the equal loudness curves, the lower is the volume, the lower we are sensitive to the bass, so DBFB compensate this.

Now, I must admit that the name "Dynamic Bass Feed Back" is quite stimulating the imagination of "audiophiles".I got a similar feature on my old JVC hi-fi, and it only have the dumb name of "bass boost", meh.

My stereo back in the '60s had a "loudness switch" that did the same thing (using only analog circuitry, of course). It tied an RC circuit into a tap on the volume pot so that as you turned the volume down, bass wasn't attenuated as much as higher frequencies.